Media and Film Studies: Careers In the Curriculum
Media and Film Studies
Digital Day- Wednesday 9th November
On the 9th of November as part of British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Digital Day Industry professionals were matched up with schools to show students how real world companies solve real world solutions. Kin + Carta, our partners for the day, are engaged in creating brilliant digital experiences for both online and phone users; Operating as a socially responsible company they focus on digital transformation and their work at SCWA was all about inspiring the next generation of digital talent.
Every student who took part in the day had valuable one to one contact with these media professionals: Mark (Head of Engineering), Melissa (Software Engineer) and Ekaete (Project Manager). It was brilliant to see these media professionals interacting with ease as they gave advice about how to get round some technical issues involved in creating a digital product or be given confidence to develop ideas that could be used to solve a problem for a massive institution such as Royal Mail. The experts from Kin and Carta were also quick to encourage good ideas and guide students away from flights of fancy and unworkable solutions.
They certainly made a massive contribution to the performance of the students. They provided insight into the way to see the world from a client point of view. The team gave valuable advice on how to structure research and lines of enquiry as to the nature of the pain points and the way the marketplace operated. Most importantly they showed us that it was the needs of the customer that had to be satisfied and for a company the size of Royal Mail that was not just one particular group but a diverse range of complex needs and behaviours. It was this that our winning entry addressed by combining the benefits of the digital and the physical.
The 500 year old Royal Mail faces some interesting decisions in the light of the communication and shopping revolution. The question is how to compete in the digital world and retain the iconic pillar box and the face to face interaction and on-street visibility of the postman. A key component of the brief our students had to solve was that of avoiding the marginalisation of certain groups in society, be they old or rural, technophobes or vulnerable. This was very much in tune with Kin and Carta’s mission to make the digital world a simpler, better and more magical place to be. Students worked hard to provide a way forward whether that was building on the rich past of Royal Mail, making the web experience a little smoother, building working prototypes of a digital app to ease the journey of the parcel or letter or a truly futuristic delivery system based on the RoboVac.
The group that were chosen as the SCWA entry to the BIMA Digital Day finals managed to successfully meet what sometimes seemed mutually exclusive aims. They kept the pillar box albeit with some new technological bells and whistles and they utilised the advantages of the digital by using the connectivity it grants to provide a varied and efficient service which gave us, the customer, the flexibility we require. Where it really scored was the retention of the face to face interaction through screen technology with the ability to talk to - wait for it - an actual human being with knowledge of the customer base.
Pinewood Studio- Friday 18th November
On Friday 18th November Year 12 and 13 Media and Film students got to attend the Futures Festival at Pinewood Studio. The aim of the day was to attend a career’s festival dedicated to the media and film industry. Students were greeted by Stormtroopers and Chewbacca as they were presented with the props and costumes of some of our best loved films. They toured through special effects and looked at industry standard equipment including drones, dolly cameras and 3D capturing technology. They also took part in a careers talk with SFX Supervisor Chris Colbould who has worked on films including Star Wars, Inception and James Bond and was able to discuss what it is like working in special effects. Students were able to meet employers and industry professionals to discuss their jobs. This festival also had representatives from Film and Media institutes including Disney, BFI and Sony and was a fantastic opportunity for our students.